rudimentarily when your HR does this job, no one, colleague or superior,
will lead you by

the hand, will make you comfortable, will
teach you the ropes, will get you out of critical

situations. You are all alone, all by
yourself, you’ll be your own guide and you’ll have to

survive on your own for it’s a matter
of bread.

1.3

How can you
survive and succeed?

The
situation is intimidating, yes, but not frightening, not insurmountable. Like
to know

why?

Because
as I said at the beginning though both the spheres are different from each
other

the
situations are no different (thinking and behaving will be similar for in both
the places you meet human beings whether they are classmates or colleagues,
teachers or superiors, college management or big bosses) because exposure to
campus life has helped you develop abilities you need and can use to tackle any
human situation:

· in the campus
you met strangers in the form of teachers and classmates, you learnt to

handle yourself and these strangers with tact and patience

· in the campus
like in company, rules and regulations existed, you learnt to cope with

them,

· in the campus
you underwent testing and came out
on top from average to excellent,

· in the campus
you learnt to cooperate, move with the
team, take occasional

leadership into your hands and perform
well,

· in the campus
several appreciated your success and some were jealous and you didn’t

allow your success to go to your head, you
didn’t allow jealous classmates take the upper

hand

· in the campus
some carried tales against you to your teachers but you survived

1.4

Behavioural
patterns to practise

But
unlike in campus, here in company, you are no more a child but a grown adult
well prepared by campus to handle humans in any situation. So ·
march like a soldier confident of your steps, direction, action and response.

· Be wary but don’t be scared,
take gentle but sure steps, observe colleagues and superiors,

register in your brain their behavioural
patterns, learn what they expect from you, also learn

what you can expect from them (which may be
very little at least in the initial

stages).

· Be polite and respectful in
words, deeds and tone of voice and other body gestures.

· Show respect even if you don’t
like the person if that’s what’s expected of you.

· Lend a patient ear, don’t
interrupt,

· don’t indulge in unnecessary
arguments or don’t make a show of your intelligence just to

score a point (this will earn you only
enemies),

· Avoid gossip like a plague,
listen to grapevine but don’t add to it,

· Assert yourself when you have
to—such chances come rarely,

A
few more tips:

·Always arrive at work on time, if not a little early. Stick to your
lunch hour... and if you are

particularly busy, eat at your desk or come
back early.

·Dressappropriately.
Look around you to see how others are dressed; especially those who

are further along on your career path. For
example, if you work in an advertising agency

and aspire to be an account executive, don't
dress like the art director, whose job allows a

Like
the behavioural patterns I’ve enumerated, all these twelve points relate to how
you should behave or conduct yourself while performing.

1.5

Performing

Learning
to perform begins with taking part in co-curricular
activities:

· seminars

· paper
presentations

These
will help you share and gather technical information and improve your
communication to an audience. Such participation will improve your prospects of
getting a job in a good company because your prospective employer will know
that

· you not only
listen, read and understand

· you also can
communicate

and

· you’re also
thinking about technical concepts.

i. Seminars

Grab
every opportunity to give seminars for it’s a practice session for paper
presentation. The topics are usually syllabus-related / textbook-related. Put
your ideas in writing and prepare matching visuals.

immediate advantages

· your audience
is small and known to you

· information
sharing is more important than evaluation of what is shared

· you’ll be
evaluated by classmates who will show sympathy and understanding

· The question
hour at the end of the presentation is your litmus test. All the effort you

have put in up to now will be useless if
you fail here. The audience are likely to ask you

to clarify, to provide more information,
to question your hypothesis or model.

·Don’t be annoyed, rude, impatient,
condescending.

·Give a patient hearing, listen carefully,
understand objectively what they expect and

answer to the best of your
ability.

· Accept an error.

·Speak politely, show respect in words and
gestures

·Smile and look cheerful.

These
two co-curricular activities will go a long way in your preparation for your
performance in your search for a job. They’ll develop your communication
skills, including your body language, especially eye contact, help you mature
as a capable communicator—listen attentively and speak convincingly.

Now
we get into the act of performing:

The
traditional process of hiring has three stages:

· a written
test · a G.D. · an interview

Prospective
candidates move from one stage to another; if they fail the written test, they
don’t go further.

Today
different organisations have different
formulas.

1.written test

Some
do everything online beginning with a written test ‘talent assessment’ also
known as pre-employment testsor employment screening tests. Talent
assessment test is used as part of an online screening process that help
employers decide which candidates to interview and are given online or in a
company or store office via computer or a hiring kiosk.

You’ll
be one among the five or six randomly selected candidates and put into a group
in a semi-circle and asked to discuss a given topic. G.D. lasts for anything
between ten and twenty minutes. To be able to participate and come out
successful, you need to possess and use influence of environment—political,
social, cultural, economic, trade—over business activities. And you should also
use right mental abilities like: thinking, analysing, arguing, convincing,
persuading.
And you should also express yourself fluently in English.

You
should also exhibit at least one of these G.D. skills: initiating, continuing and concluding the discussion.

Some
Do’s and Don’ts

· Seat yourself
in the centre. · Avoid sitting
in corners.

· Initiate
discussion if you can. · Don’t cut into
another’ speech.

· Take notes of
what others are saying. · Don’t become
emotional.

· Use appropriate
gestures. · Don’t be silent
for too long.

· Be polite.
·
Don’t silence others.

· Be firm in what
you’re saying. · Don’t be
dogmatic.

· Ask others to
join in. · Don’t talk for
too long.

· Keep eye
contact.
·
Don’t repeat what’s already said

Even
if you talk only for a minute, if what you say adds meaning to the discussion,
you’ll have succeeded.

3. Personal interview is considered the best option
by almost most hiring organisations.

‘Almost’ because some conduct online
interviews. There may be as many interviews of

candidates as the employing agencies feel
fit.

Some may begin with ‘open’ or ‘screening’
interview. They conduct on-the-spot interviews

rather than scheduling
individual interview appointments with candidates. Screening interviews

are
conducted to determine if the applicants have the qualifications needed to do
the job.

This is
the first step in the hiring process is there is no open interview. Phone interviews

are often
used to narrow the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person

interviews.

The next stage may be the final one for
hiring or it may consist of as many as four or five

interviews:

· first interview

This can be one-on-one interview or a
group from several departments. Questions will be

asked about an
applicant's experience and skills, work history, availability, and the

qualifications the company is seeking
in the optimal candidate for the job.

· second
interview

This can be a more in-depth going into
finer details of the abilities, skills, attitudes of an

applicant. Or it can be a day-long interview that includes meetings with company
staff.

you
may meet with management, staff members, executives, and other company

employees.

· third interview

This can be a ‘dining interview’ which
happens in a more relaxed environment and

where an employer wants to observe a
candidate for communication and interpersonal

skill and table manners.

· fourth or last
interview

This is generally a chit-chat where
the employer and the successful candidate talk about

things in general and the job is
offered. Candidates may use this opportunity to seek

more information about the prevailing
‘culture’ and other related things.

As
far as performing in the interview is concerned, go back to 1.10.3 and 1.10.4.

1.6

Retaining the
job

Getting
a good job with a good salary is important. But retaining it (continue to work) is more important.

You
need to show ‘results’. You need to prove to the Management they’ve gained by
employing you. You need to use your technical skills to do given tasks
perfectly. And you need to employ interpersonal skills to interact
successfully with your colleagues and workers in other departments, superiors
or subordinates, customers, the public, members of other organisations and
government officials.

You
need to work in pairs or as part of a group.

To
be successful in pair communication, do the following:

· be a good
listener, allow your partner to talk, appreciate their contribution

· be a good
speaker, be clear in your messages, clarify doubts, use appropriate body

language and tone and voice.

· show respect to
your superior.

· show warmth,
friendship and affection

· success is
important, victory is not.

· your listener
is more important to you than you to yourself.

To
be successful in group activity, do the following:

· be a good
listener, allow your partner to talk, appreciate their contribution

· be a good
speaker, be clear in your messages, clarify doubts, use appropriate body

language and tone and voice.

· show respect to
your superior.

· show warmth,
friendship and affection

· success is
important, victory is not.

· your listener
is more important to you than you to yourself.

·judge ideas, not people. Indicate this
clearly to the contributor of ideas.

· control
emotions

· go well
prepared regarding the items on the agenda for meetings, brainstorming
sessions,

This
topic acquaints you with or introduces you to the kind of atmosphere /
environment that prevails, that you can expect in a company, firm or
organisation in India.

It’s
generally agreed that there can be no one definition or description of organizational culture or corporate culture. Dr
Benjamin Rush, in the website: The University of Rhode Island’s http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/scholl/webnotes/Culture.htm
says: A single definition of organizational culture
has proven to be very elusive. No one definition of organizational culture has
emerged in the literature.

But for our purposes, we can be satisfied with the following
description:

Despite
all these, sincere attempts are being made to match the standards prevalent in
global companies. India has had a late start in succession
planning and talent management. Succession to high positions has been in the
family so far in some companies. Talent management is a new concept that has
engaged the attention of managements who feel the need to take care of it in
terms of productivity and idea creation. However, it is fast catching up. There
is a fair amount of time that all of the good companies here are spending on
these two activities. Retaining talent for Indian companies has become a key
factor in their growth strategies.

Progressive Indian companies are comparable in their work cultures with
progressive companies in the US. US companies have long-standing legacies. For
example, in General Motors, every process and responsibility is well-defined, who
has authority over what is clearly stated. Indian companies, even old ones, did
not have such processes five or ten years ago. Now they have been put into
place. Some companies encourage employee blogs so the employees can freely
express themselves and come up with something of value. Some others have forums
where active participation of employees is expected regarding issues that
concern the company or themselves.

About Me

I hail from Thamizh Nadu, a Southern state of India. I speak Thamizh, Thelugu, English and Hindi.

I served for 43 years as a teacher of English in schools and colleges in India, Ethiopia and Nigeria. I've published several articles on ELT and of general interest in the USA, Ethiopia and India. I've presented several papers in national and international conferences. I've written several course books for the English syllabuses of Bachelor of Engineering of Madras University, Anna University and JNTU, Hyderabad, for public consumption as well.